Mar 26 2020
Q: Did Bill Gates predict current viral outbreak in 2015?
A: Yes, Mr Gates gave a TED talk titled “The next outbreak? We're not ready” in 2015, albeit without mentioning “coronavirus” by name.
Here is a brief summary of his talk:
Mr Gates appeared on stage pushing a cart with a large container used to store survival supplies in case of nuclear war and declared that today’s risk of global catastrophe does not look like a “mushroom cloud” (a photo of nuclear explosion appeared).
Instead, Mr. Gates states that out greatest threat looks like this and … presents a photo strikingly similar, if not identical, to the image of coronavirus we have been seeing on TV, in newspapers, and social networks.
He proceeds to state that “if anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it is most likely to be a highly infectious virus … Not missiles, but microbes will kill us”.
Mr. Gates briefly describes Ebola epidemic and declares that the next, more dangerous epidemic may come (a photo of what looks like an airport in China appears) and the source of the virus may be natural - like Ebola, or it could be a bioterrorism. He notes that infected people will be asymptomatic for several days and may take a plane ride before falling ill.
He states that we are not prepared, but we should be able to use technology to inform and track people (via a cell phone) and we can mobilize the army and NATO in particular, because “they are ready to go”.
Mr Gates recommends doing simulations to prepare: “Germ games, not war games", so we see “where the holes are. The last time a germ game in the United States was done in 2001 and it did not go well” (Dr. Why - not sure if he meant anthrax debacle, or actual germ warfare training exercise).
He refers to the World Bank estimate that in case of epidemic “global wealth will go down by over three trillion dollars”. (Dr. Why - this almost exactly matches what happened in the last two weeks).
The talk ends on a correct note: no need to panic, but we must prepare because time is running out…
Did anybody listen to Bill? Clearly not! I shall not proceed with naming enemies - both real and imagined, whom we pursued in the last five years after and many years before Mr. Gates’ talk without risking to appear politically incorrect but… (think Russian hackers under Putin’s marching orders to destroy our democracy, Maduro, Assad, China, Kim Jong-Un, and so on… I did not say that!)
Truly, “A Prophet is without honor in his own land”!
Watch and decide for yourself: https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_the_next_outbreak_we_re_not_ready